Ligue 1's third representative in the UEFA Champions League next season will be Monaco, who sealed third with a 1-0 win at Lorient.

Published

23 May 2015

Monaco have beaten Marseille and Saint-Etienne to Ligue 1's final UEFA Champions League spot after claiming a 1-0 win at Lorient on Saturday.

Three sides went into the weekend with hopes of sealing a place in Europe's elite competition for next season, but Monaco did exactly what was required of them.

Yannick Ferreira Carrasco struck 20 minutes in at the Stade du Moustoir and that proved to be enough for Leonardo Jardim's men, who simply needed to match the results of Marseille and Saint-Etienne.

Marseille ended the season victorious as they beat Bastia 3-0 at the Stade Velodrome, but the match was marred by an unfortunate incident which saw a section of the home support throw objects at referee Ruddy Buquet and visiting goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca.

After a 15-minute delay, the action resumed for the start of the second half as Marseille cruised to victory, sealing fourth on goal difference ahead of Saint-Etienne, who beat Guingamp 2-1 thanks to a Max Gradel double.

Champions Paris Saint-Germain began their title celebrations with an Edinson Cavani-inspired 3-2 defeat of Reims at Stade des Princes, while second-placed Lyon won 1-0 at Rennes thanks to a late Clinton N'Jie goal.

Zinedine Zidane took a ceremonial kick-off for Bordeaux, who were playing at their spectacular new Stade Chaban-Delmas home and a Diego Rolan brace proved enough for the hosts to beat Montpellier 2-1.

Rock-bottom Lens beat Nantes 1-0 to end a five-match losing run as they depart Ligue 1, while the other two relegated sides - Evian and Metz - lost 3-2 to Caen and 4-1 at home to Lille respectively.

The day's other contest saw Nice triumph 3-2 at Toulouse, despite the hosts' late rally.